


Water Stronger than Blood

by Orieka



Category: DCU, DCU (Animated), Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Teen Titans (Animated Series) Setting, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Friendship is Magic, Multi, Other, teen titans au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27017389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orieka/pseuds/Orieka
Summary: AU: To protect Azerath, the only home she's ever known, Raven is sent to earth to hide in an orphanage in Gotham. In order to prevent the Church of Blood from finding her and forcing her to open the portal to unleash Trigon, she must hide her identity and keep her powers a secret. The Church of Blood aren't the only threat. There are many villains in Gotham looking for young people with powers to exploit.
Relationships: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Dick Grayson/Raven, Garfield Logan/Raven, Garfield Logan/Tara Markov, Garth/Raven (DCU), Jinx/Victor Stone, Karen Beecher/Roy Harper, Shayera Hol & Raven, Shayera Hol & Wally West, Shayera Hol/John Stewart
Comments: 26
Kudos: 49





	1. Raven: Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story about ten years ago, so most of this story is already written. I'm just revising each chapter as I post and making a few changes.

Raven \- age 9 going on 10  
Garfield \- age 9 going on 10  
Richard \- age 10 going on 11

**End of September**

**\---**

**Raven**

"I love you." This is not the first time those words have crossed my lips, but it will be her last chance to say them back. My bottom teeth pull at the already torn skin of my upper lip, as my eyes rest on her face. She looks away and answers my confession with the same cold silence she always has. My knees tremble and my fingers dig into my arms, pulling them tight to my chest. She doesn't love me. It shouldn’t hurt. It’s nothing new; a truth I’ve known my entire life, but at this moment her normal silence is too loud; deafening. 

“Come,” a voice behind me says. Time has run out and my guardians are impatient. I turn around to face the four women tasked with bringing me safely to my new home. They are ready in their dark robes, hoods up to shield them from what I was told is a terrible world. I glance over my shoulder one last time and my eyes search her face, but nothing has changed. She will not speak the words I so desperately want to hear and will not come with me or beg Azar to let me stay. I turn back to my chaperones and face my fate with all the courage of someone who has no choice. Because of my training I can ignore the horrible pain I feel in my chest. I can force air in through my nose and out through my mouth in slow streams. Each breath releases the sorrow, the anger, the fear and the panic. If I have a meltdown, if I shed even one tear, they will know they made the right choice in sending me away. 

We walk through the smooth white archway, the gateway and when we step through it, we step into a cold and dark world. The ground is hard and black, matching the sky and something big with lights swerves and nearly hits us. The guardians hurry me to a lighter colored path next to the black ground and begin walking. I walk between them and try to look around, but it’s too dark to see very much. There are lamps here and there that light things up, but many of them appear to be broken. Despite the darkness, somehow the guardians seem to know where we are going. 

They turn down an alley and the two in front stop dead in their tracks after we’ve followed them halfway in. There are two men in front of them. One is twirling a chain, the other has nothing in his hands, but it does not mean he isn’t dangerous. I don’t need to know anything about earth to know that they are trouble. A terrible mix of anger and amusement radiates off of them in a way that reminds me of _him._ These are the type of people _he_ likes. The contrast between the auras of my chaperones and these men is heaven and hell; these are bad men. 

“Well, well, well. What are you freaks doing in our territory?” the man with the chain asks. I sense three more people with similar auras behind us. They move forward forcing my guardians and I to step forward. The men ahead of us move back, allowing their friends to herd us to the end of the alley into a clearing of more black pavement between some large buildings. There are white lines on the ground and a few big metal vehicles, much smaller, but similar to the public transport at home. Five men surround us. 

“<Keep your hood up.>” The leader of my chaperones, Ragalira whispers. “<Take her hand.>” she told the woman next to me, Miral. She actually does grab it, which is surprising. There have been very few times at home when anyone dared to touch me. They were all too afraid of Trigon, afraid of being cursed, afraid that I am evil… I glance up at Miral, she looks down at me for a moment, a look of determination on her face. The bad emotions in the air grow stronger. Two more men show up from the alley behind us. They all sprawl out now an impenetrable circle around us. They look similar, dark hair and few parts of their heads shaved, black clothes that are ripped and torn in places, pale skin that heavily contrasts with the dry blood of old cuts and wounds scattered across faces and arms. Their hands reached for knives at their belts. One of them has a metal baseball bat. 

“What do we have here?” Their apparent leader smiles as he steps into the circle and walks around us. He pauses in front of Ragalira and swipes her hood down. She had been okay until now, but I sense fear. The man grins and puts a hand under her chin. “Looks like you ladies stepped into the wrong territory.” His words earn him hoots and hollers from his men. Ragalira moves out of his grip. He doesn’t like that, but he continues to smile. He points his knife at her and what was only a little fear, is now a lot. All of my chaperones are scared, as if her rising fear is contagious. In Azerath we preach against violence, but these men will not be turned away by words. My chaperones will not fight with their first and even if they wanted to, they don’t know how... We’re in serious trouble. 

“Take off your hoods.” The leader orders. We don’t move. I can feel Miral’s body stiffen next to me. My own legs shake and threaten to cave out from under me. He puts his knife to Ragalira’s throat. Miral removes her hood first and then the others follow her action. “Search them. Take any valuables and deposit them to the safe.” 

“You gonna let us have any fun? I think we deserve a reward after how we took out them joker wannabes downtown.” One of the men shouts and others agree with him. 

“Pick one and them take em’ to the warehouse.” The leader says. “Some big boys have an auction coming to town soon and you can buy way more fun after we get paid.” He grabs Ragalira’s arm and starts walking off with her. 

The men start grabbing at my chaperones, taking the two in front of us and dragging them away. 

“<Run.>” Miral looks down at me and all but screams the word as one of the men grabs her arm. “<The big blue house down that road, make a left when you pass three corners and you’ll find it.>” she speaks fast, almost too fast for me to keep up. 

“<What about you?>” We hear one of the guardians scream and I can still sense all of their fear, even though they’re farther away. It’s louder than anything I’ve ever felt in Azerath. It’s too loud to ignore. 

“<We’ll be fine>” she says as he pulls her so hard her hand is ripped from mine and she nearly stumbles. “<Go, so we can tell Azar we did our job.>” 

“What are you gibbering about?” One of the men asks. 

“What about the little one? He ain’t gonna be able to scrap a kid.” the other one says. He stands in front of me, but doesn’t move to grab me. Maybe he thinks he doesn’t need to. 

“Shut up, you don’t even know what you’re talking about.” the other man slaps him on the back of the head. 

“<Run.>” Miral repeats, but I can’t. I can’t just leave them. I glance around the alley and look for something, anything I can use to help us. I take a slower breath and concentrate on a rock and pick it up, throwing it at the bigger man’s head. 

“What the fuck was that?” he rubs his forehead where the rock hit. I pick up other stuff on the ground: cups, paper bags, glass bottles and anything else I can see on the black pavement, throwing it at both of them as hard as I can. They back away then and I grab Miral’s hand, running towards where they had dragged the others away. They’re around the corner. One man is holding one of the women with a knife to her throat and one arm behind her. The others have the other woman on the ground. Her head is bleeding and one of them is hold her arms over her head while the other seems to be wrestling with her clothes. This sight turns what was fear in a rage that almost burns. They were trying to do what _he_ did to _her._

I scream as loud as I can and reach out with my powers, grabbing a big metal stick with a red hexagon attached to it. I swing it at the men and they back up from it, forced to let her go. I keep swinging it until one of them pulls out a new weapon and it makes a big bang and puts a hole through the hexagon. They keep shooting at it, as I try to hit them and when that doesn’t work, they fire at me. I’m surprised, but I manage to raise a shield to protect myself. 

Someone else is here. A man in dark clothes appears behind the men. Ragalira is standing next to him and he has their leader in hand by his shirt collar, knocked out. At the sight of us, Ragalira runs to the other guardians. The newcomer makes the other men panic. They had been afraid of me, but now they’re really scared and then angry. They don’t stop firing at me and three of them try to fight the newcomer, but he beats them up with such ease I would believe it if I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes. He goes after the two still attacking me next. 

“<Run!>” Miral tells me again. I start to shake my head, but something in her eyes warns me that I better listen. I sprint away as fast as I can and try to remember the directions, she told me, but once I get out of the alley, I stop. I can’t leave them... I should wait in case there’s more trouble, in case they need my help again... I hide behind a big metal box that smells worse than anything I’ve ever smelled in my entire life. I plug my nose with my fingers and breathe out of my mouth. There are a few long, loud, high pitch whiny noises that go by a couple times, but otherwise the night is eerily quiet. 

I wait for a long time. A really long time. A man enters the alley and pees on the side of the wall across from me. Thankfully he leaves quickly after. They don’t come. Did they make it away from the men okay? Did they go to our destination without me? Are they looking for me? I bite my lip and hug my knees a little close to my chest. She told me to run and I remember the way, sort of... 

Feet land softly, but still audible on the black pavement. It’s not the men. I sense nothing bad, except a little anger, but anger wasn’t necessarily bad. This person is also a little worried.... It might be Miral? Is she mad I didn’t follow instructions? I peek out from behind the dumpster and immediately regret it. It’s not Miral. 

“Hey, easy. I just want to help,” It’s the man in dark clothes. He has some sort of bat logo on his chest and a mask that covers most of his face. The cape around his shoulders reminds me of our cloaks, but he’s not one of us. He’s a stranger and I was warned many times not to talk to any strangers once we crossed the portal. I concentrate and teleport as far as I can, which is only to the other end of the alley and run as fast as I can where Miral told me. Rain pours from the sky, but I don’t let it slow me. I turn at the right corner, too quickly and end up on the ground. My knee hurts, but I get up and run towards the blue house. I cross into the gates of the large front yard and the door opens before I reach it. 


	2. Raven: First Night

**Raven**

A gray haired old woman, with more wrinkles than Azar pulls me inside and slams the door shut quickly behind us. Ragalira and the other guardians are a few steps deeper inside. I’m so relieved tears nearly fall from my eyes, but I stop them, because I can’t cry. 

I breathe in through my nose and out my mouth. Letting all the feelings leave me as quickly as they came. I can’t give them anything else bad to tell Azar when they go back. She could still change her mind, but she won’t if she hears that I’ve lost control of my powers already. 

“<I told you to come here, what took you so long?>” Miral asks. 

“We can take things from here.” The old woman says. She narrows her eyes at me and gives me a stern look. 

“I have some things to discuss with the girl.” Ragalira says. 

“Alright. Then let’s get this done.” The woman says. She turns and walks deeper into the house. I try to look around, but it’s dark. They didn’t turn any of the lights on. 

“<Keep up.>” Ragalira says over her shoulder. The other women move aside and I follow Ragalira and the older woman a little farther into the house. The woman stops at a door and I hear something click, like maybe she used a key to unlock the door. She goes in first and turns on a light and we follow after. It’s a small office with a big wooden bookcase, a desk with a chair behind and two in front. There’s an array of knickknacks, a painting on the wall, but I try not to look around too much, because by now the woman is watching me. She takes a seat behind the desk and Ragalira helps herself to one of the chairs. I don’t sit. 

“<You have some rules to follow.>” Ragalira says. “<Do not under any circumstances use your powers. Trigon has followers here and they will look for you because you can become the portal. You said you didn’t want to release him, so don’t let them know you are here.>” Her eyes are the same cold and distant eyes of everyone in Azerath. The same eyes that have silently accused me of being like _him_ for as long as I can remember. 

“<Be discreet, be quiet, don’t draw attention to yourself. Stay inside as much as you can. Don’t talk to strangers if you can avoid it. Don’t speak to anyone in our tongue or tell them where you are from.>” This is not my first time hearing these rules. Azar had told them to me shortly after making the decision to send me away. I’ve already memorized them. 

“<Things will be different here. You are not used to dealing with people your own age. They may say or do things that hurt you, but you must remember where you come from and how we deal with problems.>” She looks away before opening her mouth again. “<Thank-you for helping us before, but you mustn’t do it again.>” I nod because I know she’s right. She stands up and the older woman does too. 

“There’s no going back from here. Are you sure you can handle it?” Ragalira is looking at the woman this time, not me. 

“It’s my honor to serve Azar.” I sense the woman means this, but I also sense fear. That’s good. That means they didn’t lie to her. She knows who I am and what I can do. She knows what will happen if she fails. 

I follow them back to the front door. My chaperones open it and leave without so much as a parting glance or goodbye. I’m not surprised. The woman locks the door behind them and then turns to look at me. 

“You may address me as Mrs. Huntington. “Welcome to Sunny Oaks. This is a place for children who can’t live with their parents.” I nod to show that I’m listening because adults usually like to know they’ve been heard. 

“You’ll be like any other student here, just pay heed to the rules you were told. It’s late. I’ll have one of the staff members come get you ready for bed. Wait here.” I watch her walk down the hall and up a flight of stairs. I try to make out more of the house, but it’s too dark to see anything other than the shapes and outlines of furniture. She comes back quickly with another woman, this one is older than my mother, but younger than Mrs. Huntington. She has dark hair piled high in a bun on her head and even though it’s late she’s wearing a blouse and skirt instead of pajamas. 

“Miss Vanderbelt, this is our newest addition. Her name is Raven. Please take her upstairs and put her to bed with the ten to twelves.” Mrs. Huntington says. I sense curiosity, but Miss Vanderbelt doesn’t ask any questions. 

“Let’s go then.” She puts a hand behind me and nudges me along down the hall. Touch again. I move a step faster than her so her hand can’t touch me anymore. We go up two flights of stairs and down a dim hall. Eyes peep out of some of the doors and I hear a few whispers. She moves around me goes all the way to the end of the hall and opens a door to a room with white tile covering the floors and walls. After stepping in, it’s actually three rooms. The first near the entrance has four sinks in front of a large mirror. Across from the door is another doorway, but has no door, I follow her there and this one has stalls. I take a peek and see a white chair with a hole in the middle and water. It smells a little like pee. I can only look for a minute before she’s moving on without me into the third area. This one has stalls, but instead of the white chairs there are faucets. 

“You’re soaked to the bone.” she says. “Go ahead and take a shower. I’ll find you some pajamas.” She leaves and I frown going into the stall. We don’t have these at home. I don’t know what to do... 

When she comes back and I’m still in my wet clothes I sense she’s irritated and it’s confirmed by the pulling together of her eyebrows over her nose. She’s about to speak, but I open my mouth first. 

“How?” Her irritation disappears and turns into something else, something I don’t understand. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.” she says. She goes inside the stall and points “When you’re ready, just turn this faucet and the water will come out here. You can change the temperature by turning this dial. This way for hot and that way for cold. The soap is in this dispenser. Okay? Be quick, it’s late and you need to get some sleep. You can put your clothes in there.” She steps out of the stall and points to a basket in the corner. 

“Here’s a towel and some clean pajamas, I’m going to put them over here, alright?” She puts them on a small shell just outside the stall. “I’ll wait for you in the hall. Be quick, it’s late.” She leaves and I try to follow her instructions. I take off the wet clothes and try the shower. The water comes out just like she says it will and I let it rinse the rain water off and the cold. I use the dispenser on the wall to get soap and it pours out in a white glob on my hand. After a few minutes I turn the water off and dry off quickly. The towel doesn’t do much to dry my hair, but I try. The clothes are a little different from at home. Tiny pants that cover only my butt, a white thin sleeveless shirt and a pink long night dress. Once dressed I go past her in the hall. 

“Alright looks good. It's late, let's get you to bed.” she says. We go two doors down and she pauses in front of it. 

“This is the bedroom for girls between the ages of ten and twelve, you’ll sleep here from now on.” she opens the door and goes inside. I don’t want to follow her, it’s already too loud, but it’s even worse in there. She’ll get it mad if I don’t though and I’m not supposed to draw attention to myself. It’s dark, but I can still make out four bunk beds that line one wall and two dressers on an opposite one. There are toys strewn across the floor, that I do my bed to avoid and a small bookshelf void of books and filled with more toys. She stops at the bottom bunk farthest from the door and gestures for me to get in, so I do. She surprises me by pulling the blankets around me snugly. 

“I’ll be back in the morning to get you started.” she says. 

“Thank-you...” I mumble as she turns to leave. I watch her cross through the room, she snubs her toe on a toy, but barley pays it any mind before going through the door and shutting it behind her. The girl in the bunk above me peers down over the rail. 

“What’s your name?” She asks. “I’m Martha.” The other girls get out of their bed and head over too. One of them even turns on the lights. I pull my head under the blanket, hoping it will help stifle some of their feelings, but it doesn’t help and one of them rips it off anyway. 

“That’s not very nice.” Martha says. I can hear her climbing down from the top bunk and the bed shakes a little. “You should introduce yourself.” 

“She looks funny.” Someone whispers. 

“Look how pale she is.” Another whispers. “Are you sick?” 

“Is it contagious?” They all start to back away. 

“I saw a corpse once and it looked like that. Maybe she’s going to die.” A girl who hadn’t spoken yet says. 

“Jessica stop lying.” Martha says. The others voice agreement with her. 

“I’m not lying, I really did see a dead body once.” Jessica says. They all back away a little farther and start to whisper. I could probably hear them if I try, but I don’t want to. Their feelings are too strong and disturbing. Fluctuating in all kinds of ways that are too loud and painful. I pull the blanket back over my head and try to calm myself. Eventually they turn the light off and go back to sleep, though Marth doesn’t go back up to her bunk. 


	3. Raven: First Day

**Raven**

A loud noise that sounds like the ringing of a bell wakes everyone up. I listen as the other girls rummage around the room, but don’t move the covers from over my face until they’re gone. Miss Vanderbelt said she would return, but I wish that she wouldn’t and that the other girls wouldn’t come back either. For just a second before my eyes opened, I had been hoping this was just a nightmare, but it’s not. It’s real. I did leave and _she_ didn’t come with me... 

Now that the whole house is awake it’s too loud. My own sadness mixes with the disaster of feelings all the other kids in the building are feeling. _In, two,_ _three ,four_ _... Out, two, three, four..._ I concentrate on my breath like Azar has trained me to and imagine a shield around myself until the door opens. Miss Vanderbelt comes in with a stack of clothes. She puts them on top of the dresser closest to my bed and opens the bottom drawer, packing the clothes inside except for a navy colored dress and a few other things that she lays on the end of my bed. 

“Did you sleep well?” she asks. I nod, even though it’s a lie. Lying is bad, but if I tell her the truth she might ask why and I can’t tell her about all the feelings or what happened with the other girls. 

“Put these on and I’ll walk you down to breakfast. Hurry up, we’re already a little late.” She leaves so I can change and I put on new under clothes, the dress and black socks before meeting her in the hall. She looks at me and frowns before going back in the room and coming out with a comb. Instead of handing it to me, she runs it through my hair a few times and wrinkles her nose, not quite satisfied, but out of time. She puts the comb in her pocket and starts heading downstairs. It’s been a long time since anyone else combed my hair. She doesn’t know who I am though, so I shouldn’t be surprised. As long people don’t know about _him_ they will hopefully treat me like everyone else. That’s what’s supposed to happen. I need to pretend it’s normal and stop being surprised. 

“Did you see where I put your clothes?” she asks. 

“Yes,” I answer. 

“That’s where your clothes will always be. Everyone gets a drawer. In the morning when the alarm goes off, put some clean clothes on, preferably ones that match, brush your teeth, comb your hair and then get down to the dining room for breakfast.” she says. I nod even though she can’t see me. “Breakfast ends at seven-thirty. You’re to be in your classroom by ten to eight. You will have class until noon, when you will have lunch and recess. At one you go back to class until three. Then you will have a couple hours of free time until dinner at six. After you’re acclimated, we’ll get you on the chore roster. Everyone is expected to help out.” she says as we get to the first floor. We go down the hall and enter a large room with multiple tables and chairs that are mixed matched and different sizes. One wall is opened up to a kitchen, but a counter full of food divides it from the dining room. At the end nearest the door are stacks of trays and silverware. Miss Vanderbelt leads me to the counter and grabs a tray for me, a fork and a plate. She puts a piece of toast smothered in butter on the plate, a spoonful of scrambled eggs, an apple and at the end of the line she gets a glass of water and hands it to me. 

“Eat and meet me at the door when the bell rings at seven-thirty. I’ll take you to your class.” She leaves me to get sorted on my own and I frown. The other kids are starring and whispering. Their feelings are so loud... _In, two, three four... Out, two, three four..._ Breathe... Just breathe... 

I don’t want to sit with them, but all the tables look full. My eyes circle the room until I finally find a place to sit. There’s one table in the far corner with three empty chairs. I walk over there and once I sit down, I realize why no one else wants to sit here. One of the legs wobbles and shakes every time I move even the tiniest bit, sloshing water out of the glass and onto the table. Some of it lands on my toast too. My stomach hurts and I’m not hungry, but I force myself to eat the food anyway, barley tasting it. At home it was not proper to leave any food on your plate. It was ungrateful and insulting to the land that had provided the food, the people who had grown it, harvested it and those who had cooked it. This is something that can be the same as at home. Maybe if I prove that I can be good here, Azar will see and change her mind. Maybe she’ll see that I’m not like _him_ and let me come home. Maybe _she’ll_ see too. 

When the bell rings I watch the other kids get up and dump their trays in a bin by the door. Once they’re gone, I meet Miss Vanderbelt. She hands me a pink binder that’s bigger than my head and stuffed full of stuff. On the cover are shiny little pictures of rainbows and unicorns. 

“This is for your schoolwork. Paper, pencils and erasers. If you need something else just ask your teacher, but you should be set.” She starts walking, so I follow her. Instead of going straight to the classroom she gives me a small tour of the first floor. There’s a living room where kids can watch tv after class is over, another bathroom, Mrs. Huntington’s office, the dining room and kitchen. By the time she’s done showing me all the rooms the bell rings and we head to my classroom. There are three classrooms, one for first to third graders, one for the fourth to sixth graders and the last for seventh to eighth graders. The kids older than that leave to go to school for the day in the outside world. 

Miss Vanderbelt opens the door and steps inside. There are thirty desks in the room, but only about twenty-two of them are filled. There’s a blackboard on the wall in the front of the room. The woman is writing a math problem on it. 

“Class we have a new student,” she says, pausing in her writing to turn around. The other kids have already stopped shuffling through their things to look at the door. “I’m Ms. Flores.” she looks at me, as if expecting something, but I’m not sure what. 

“This is Raven.” Miss Vanderbelt says after a moment of silence. 

“Please be nice to your new classmate and make her feel welcome.” Ms. Flores smiles to the class. “You can take the seat in front of Garfield. Garfield raise your hand.” A green boy in the back row raises his hand. I go sit in front of him and Ms. Flores turns back to the blackboard. 

“Alright class, today we're going to start on math.” The announcement prompts a few groans. I watch the other kids dig in their desks and pull out thick math textbooks. I check my desk and it has one too, so I do the same. “Fourth graders, turn to page three-sixty-five in your books, fifth graders, turn to page two-twenty-three, sixth graders page two-ninety.” 

I check the cover of my book, but it just says “Math” in big letters. It doesn’t tell me what grade it’s supposed to be. How do I know which page to turn to? In Azerath children learned based on their ability and effort. Is it the same here? All the girls in my room are here. Is it because they learn the same? But all the kids in this class seem like they are close in age. There isn’t anyone really young or much older... 

Ms. Flores writes the page numbers on the board. I turn to the first one, but it’s just long division, that can’t be for my grade, can it? She tells the older students to start reviewing the introduction to the chapter and goes over some long division problems on the board. This is something I already know, so I try the next page number. I already know this too. I go farther into the book and I know that as well, but I don’t want to get in trouble... The rules are to stay low and not draw attention to myself. I start on the fifth grade stuff. In the binder are loose sheets of paper and a fabric zipper case of pens and pencils. I start the practice problems. I hear her start to explain to the older students and neither the fifth or sixth graders is doing what I’m doing, so I’ve made a mistake. I go back to the long division and do all the problems she put on the board. 

After she’s done going through the sixth grade work she starts walking around. When she gets to my seat she pauses. I’m already done and not sure what to do, so I just put my pencil down and tried to concentrate on shielding the emotions of the other kids. 

“How are you doing?” she asks. She takes my papers without asking and looks at them. “Have you done this before?” I nod. “Maybe we can have you do what the fifth graders are doing if you’re comfortable enough with the fourth grade concepts. I’ll talk to Mrs. Huntington and see if we can schedule a test so we can see what you know and what you don’t know.” She moves on after that to help the other kids. She collects everyone’s assigned practice problems when we’re done. Then we move on to “literature” which just means reading and answering questions about the story and studying English grammar points. Also, very easy and boring. 

When the bell for lunch rings I follow the other kids back to the dining room. I ignore any looks in my direction. My roommates don’t try to talk to me again after last night. In the dining hall there are cheese sandwiches, fruit in a cup full of an orange jiggly blob-like substance and carrot sticks. I take a serving of everything offered and sit at the same wonky table that I did at breakfast. Most of the other kids eat quickly and run off. I get up when I’m done and see through the hall window that they’ve gone outside to play. Outside is not safe. I go back to the classroom. There’s a bookshelf with a random assortment of books in the back of the room. I help myself to one and read until the bell rings. After lunch Ms. Flores teaches us about earth history and then science. When the next bell rings the other kids run off. I get up slowly unsure about what to do until dinner. The other girls might be back in our room and I’m not eager to be around them again after last night... Outside is a no. 

I head upstairs to the second floor and walk around a little, but it’s just a few bedrooms like mine, another bathroom and a room that looks like a study or an office. I head up to the third floor where my room is. I know the door on the end is the bathroom and the other three doors are bedrooms, but not what the first door is, so I open it. It’s a library! Sort of.... There are lots of stacks of books and some tables, but other things too. One wall has a bunch of white machines on top of tables. One shelf is full of board games instead of books. Still, there are enough books to keep me busy for a long time. I look through stacks of ceiling to floor shelves and find a couple books before sitting down to read until the dinner bell rings. When it does, I go downstairs and eat a salad, a piece of chicken and a roll as fast as I can before heading back to the library. 

After fifteen minutes the door opens. I glance behind me, surprised at first and then sad. I was hoping this would be a quiet safe haven away from the other kids, but it might not be. A boy who’s in my class comes in. He has dark hair and a sour expression on his face when he meets my eyes, but he doesn’t say anything and I don’t sense anything bad. He’s calmer than the other kids, but like all of them if I go below the surface there is a deep sadness and plenty of anger too. 

He goes over to one of the white machines and turns it on. The screen lights up and he starts pressing buttons on a device in front of it. It’s hard to see what he’s doing with his back and head in the way, but I try to crane my neck just a little. If he notices my curiosity, he ignores me. I’m too far away to see what he’s doing, but whatever those machines do they have his complete focus. I go back to my book. When the big clock over the door says nine-thirty, the door opens again. This time it’s Miss Vanderbelt. 

“I see you’ve found the library,” she says. “Hello Richard.” She looks at the boy and he waves a hand at her without turning around. I glance at the page I’m on and try to remember the number. I wish I had a piece of paper or a bookmark. 

“It’s time to start getting ready for bed. You too Richard.” she says. “It’s getting late.” He gets up and leaves. I stand up too. She walks me out, but doesn’t follow me back to the room. She heads back downstairs. When I get to the room there’s a brand-new toothbrush on my pillowcase still in the packaging and a brush. I take both and grab pajamas before heading to the bathroom. The other girls are brushing their teeth and washing their faces. I wait for a free sink and do the same, taking a few minutes to also brush my hair even though it will just get tangled again in my sleep. When I get back to the room the other girls are climbing in their beds. Martha is waiting by the light switch. She backs away from me for some reason, like I might hurt her or something, but I ignore her and go to my bed. She turns out the lights, but doesn’t climb into the top bunk. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Richard usually goes by Dick in the comics etc, but I don't like that name for what I think are obvious reasons, so I always use Richard. If you don't like it, just imagine I'm writing Dick instead. I imagine the speech bubbles say Richard when I'm reading comics etc. hehe. Sorry not sorry.


	4. Raven: Awake

**December**

**\---**

**Raven**

_ "Hello little girl," someone whispers in my ear. My eyes flash open and I sit up. The room is still dark and the other girls are sleeping in their bunks. _

_ “I’m sorry, did I wake you?” the voice asks in a gentle tone. _

_ “Who’s there?” I clutch my blankets tight between my fingers. _

_ “You don’t recognize me?” The voice grows from a whisper to almost a shout and yet none of the girls in my room wake up. “You should know who I am, daughter.” _

_ “No!” I scream. He can’t be here. He can’t have followed me from  _ _ Azerath _ _ to here. _

_ “Yes.” He laughs. His shape appears in the center of the room, larger than life, ripping through the ceiling. Flames burn the room and the other girls finally wake up and start to scream. Smoke fills the air and the screams turn into coughs. I cover my mouth with my blanket, but it doesn’t help. The smoke chokes me. I can’t breathe. _

_ “Release me!” he roars. I clutch my throat, gasping to get air. He reaches out his big red hand and picks me up. “Release me!” his voice a gust of wind on my face. _

Something hits me in the  stomach . My eyes open, for real this time and I sit up. Martha and Jessica are standing at the side of my bed.

“You’re keeping everyone up!” Martha says wiping her hand on her pajama top. “I’m  gonna put  duct tape on your mouth if you don’t stop screaming every freaking night!”

“Stupid freak,” Jessica adds. They walk back to the bed they’ve been sharing since I arrived, since Martha still refuses to sleep in her own, lest she catch my germs. I sit up and rub my eyes. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he came and burned them. Ugh.... bad, bad, bad I can’t think like that. I lay back down and stare at the bunk above me, there’s still probably three or four hours before the alarm will ring for us to get up, but I won’t go back to sleep.

The first few nights I was so tired from all the new people, rules and things, that I slept fine. Better than fine. The deepest sleep I’ve ever had. It was stupid, but I really thought I had escaped him. That he couldn’t have followed me here, but I was wrong... On the fourth night it started again. At first the other girls didn’t mind that much. They have nightmares sometimes too and I hear them tossing and turning in their sleep, but they don’t scream...

Every time my eyes start to fall and the wood planks of the bed above me go dark out of view, I pull a rubber band back on my wrist. The short pop of pain wakes me up again for just a second. When that stops working, I pinch the inside of my elbow. When even that stops working, I pull my hair. Anything to stay awake.

It’s been several long and horrible weeks, but somehow, I’ve managed to survive. I got used to things at the orphanage like the constant bells and alarms throughout the day, reminding us to wake up, eat or go to class. I got used to the presence of the other kids with their extreme range of emotions. I even got used to the faint smell of pee in the bedroom because at least one girl has a problem with wetting her bed. The other kids got used to me too, so they stop staring all the time. By now they all know I won’t talk to them, even if they say something mean to me. Even if they call me a freak or ask if I’m sick. It’s easier to not talk to them. They have stupid questions about why my hair and eyes are purple. Did I dye it? Is it natural? Do they ask each other why their hair is blond or brown, or in Garfield’s case green? Is that just a thing earth kids do? Are people supposed to know why they look the way they do? I could ask them, but I don’t want to encourage any type of conversation.

The rules are that the less I talk the better and so far, that seems to be right. Ms. Flores has asked me to talk to her after class several times and the more I talk to her, the more I get the feeling she knows I don’t belong here. She asks me about books I’m reading from the bookshelf in the classroom or about the math or science we’re doing in class, if I already know it or not, and I always do. Then she gets this look on her face like it’s strange even though it’s really not. There were younger kids at home who were farther ahead of this class than I am. These kids are either just stupid or maybe lazy. We don’t even really have much homework, so maybe it’s Ms. Flores’ fault for making it too easy. In any case she’s not the only one sticking her nose in my business. Miss  Vanderbelt has been bothering me to go outside like the other kids do. Most of them go outside at lunch and after classes are over. They runaround on the playground and play games. I watch them sometimes in the window of the library, but I know it’s better if I stay indoors. The other kids don’t come in the library a lot. Only sometimes to use the computers and then for not too long, because they complain about how they’re old and slow. Richard is the only one who comes a lot. He comes almost every evening, but he never bothers me, so he’s easy to ignore.

Night is the worst. Night is nightmares and nothing to distract me from forbidden thoughts about wanting to go home. It’s when I remember the words  _ she _ didn’t say and the ones  _ he  _ never stops saying, over and over again every night in my dreams. I try to think about nice things before I go to sleep, like a book I really like or if I'm being really bad, I imagine her coming to get me... I imagine rubbing it in Martha’s and all the other girl’s faces. I’m going home and they’ll stay here forever because no one wants mean girls like them for daughters. 

“Raven....” someone whispers. No. I must have fallen asleep again. I pinch my arm as hard as I can and it hurts, but not enough to wake me up.

“Raven...” they whisper again. This time it feels closer, like it’s right in my ear, but I look to the left and there’s nothing there. Something hits the mattress from under the bed again and again, shaking the entire bed frame. I have to wake up! I dig my nails into my arms, ripping at the skin. Wake up, wake up, wake up! I squeeze my eyes shut and keep digging into my skin, because maybe if it hurts enough it’ll wake me up, like when Martha hit me. The banging on the mattress stops, so maybe it’s working.

“Raven...” I can almost feel his breath on my ear. I turn over and burry my face into my mattress. I don’t want to see him again. I don’t want to see the room on fire or anything else.

“Ginny!” someone screams. Nope, not going to look. I don’t want to see what he did to her.

“She’s shaking, look how scared she is. I don’t want to get in...” Ginny’s voice is interrupted by a scream and then a few more. I open my eyes and turn over. The light is on. Martha and Jessica on the floor next to my bed. They scream more when I sit up and scoot away.  So it had just been another stupid prank? A joke? I wasn’t having a nightmare? 

The door opens and Miss  Vanderbelt and another staff member Ms.  Kinders step into the room. They’re both in their pajamas and they do not look happy. Martha and Jessica get off the floor and back away. 

“What is going on here?” Ms. Kinders asks.

“Girls, what are you...” Miss  Vanderbelt starts, but she stops and  stares in my direction before rushing over and grabbing my left arm. “What happened?” I look at my arm to see what the fuss is about. It’s covered in blood.

“We didn’t do anything,” Martha lies.

“It was just a joke,” Jessica says.

“Get up,” Miss  Vanderbelt says, ignoring them. I do as she says, but she doesn’t let go. She uses her free hand to push my left shoulder and walks next to me at an odd angle, guiding me out of the room, away from the stupid girls and to the bathroom. She lets go when we get inside and goes to the sinks, turning the water on. I walk on my own towards the sink and run my arm under the water. It stings a little, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as hurting it in the first place. She leaves and comes back with a towel and a white box that she puts on the edge of one of the sinks. By now the blood is mostly cleaned off. She turns the water off and wraps my arm in the towel.

“What happened?” she asks.

“...” I don’t want to tell her, because she won’t understand. She presses the towel on a little tighter, but it doesn’t hurt.

“I need to know what happened.” Her voice is stern. I don’t think she’s angry with me, but she’s not happy. The rules are to not draw attention to myself. This is attention. If I tell her she’s not going to understand, but if I don’t tell her, she might not let it go. 

“I woke up because I felt something under my bed and they whispered my name,” I say quickly. “I thought I was dreaming and I wanted to wake up so I pinched my arm, but that didn’t work, so I started scratching.”

“Why would you do that?” I knew she wouldn’t understand. “Didn’t it hurt?” I nod. “Then why do it? If it hurt you should have known you were awake.” That’s not true. The nightmares always feel real. It’s hard to know if I’m dreaming or not and pain there can be real too, but it hurt when Martha hit me and it woke me up. Maybe if it’ hurts enough I can wake up. Wishing to wake up doesn’t work. Nothing else has worked. If I had been dreaming, the cuts wouldn’t be real. It’s because I didn’t know I was awake.

“Don’t do it again, you shouldn’t hurt yourself because you’re scared. If someone is trying to hurt you, you shouldn’t help them.” That makes sense.

“I just wanted to wake up.” I mumble again.

“It’s not supposed to hurt if you’re dreaming,” she repeats. I don’t answer her. She moves the towel and in the white box she takes out a white paper packet and opens it. Inside there’s a wet cloth. It hurts when she wipes it over the scratches, but I don’t say anything. When she’s  done, she puts big sticky band aids on the bigger marks. It’s unpleasant and they even restrict the movement of my elbow a little. If I was at home, I could just heal them myself, but if I do it here people will notice. I have to let them heal like a normal person.

She closes the box and rolls up the towel before putting it under her arm. I follow her back to the bedroom. The other girls aren’t asleep yet. They’re all sitting on their own beds, even Martha. The light is on and Ms.  Kinders is still with them. 

“Girls what did I tell you?” Ms. Kinders asks.

“We’re sorry,” they mumble half-heartedly. I know none of them mean it. The only thing they’re sorry about is getting caught.

“Now go to bed. I don’t want to hear another peep from you tonight.” Ms.  Kinders says. I go to my bed. There’s some blood on my blankets, but it’s mine, so it doesn’t bother me. I climb under the covers and lay down as if I’ll go to sleep.

“I’ll be checking on your all again. If I find anything, but sleeping little girls there will be trouble,” Miss  Vanderbelt says. They turn off the lights and leave. The other girls whisper and mumble among themselves for a few minutes, but eventually they go to sleep.

They had been so stupid... They’re lucky I didn’t do anything or they could have ended up like that woman at home. I almost killed her because of  _ him.  _ I could have hurt them too and then people would know about my powers and then  _ they _ would find me and then everything would be over, for everyone.


	5. Raven: the Mission

**December**

**\---**

**Raven**

The nice thing about winter is that long sleeve shirts are normal. Even with my arm covered though, some of the other kids still stare. The girls in my room have big mouths. The adults do too, because even Ms. Flores looks at my arm a few times in class. At lunch I go to the library and put my head down on the table because I’m still so tired. When the bell rings I want to stay, but it would be stupid. I’ve already drawn too much attention to myself. The best thing I can do is pretend last night didn’t happen. Eventually they’ll forget about it. Winter break starts tomorrow which means no more class. I won’t have to be near the other kids except for meals and bed. Tonight, I’ll be smarter. I won’t let anyone get to me. Not _him_ and not the other girls. Even if _he_ makes me see horrible things, I won’t wake the others. I won’t scream. Martha gave me a really good idea last night. 

At the end of the day Ms. Flores ends class an hour before she normally would. 

“It’s been a great semester,” she says. “I hope you’ll all enjoy your break.” There are some cheers and hoots from the other kids. She goes by her desk and disappears for a minute under the table. The other kids are getting really excited for some reason. It’s hard to shield. When Ms. Flores stands up again, she’s got a plastic green basket and it’s filled with candy canes. 

“Before you leave you can all have one of these,” she goes by the door and the other kids race to gather their things and get to the door. She passes each and every one of them a candy as they exit. I let the others go first because I don’t understand the excitement. I’d tried a smaller version of the candy already and it was just peppermint and sugar. The cookies at dinner were better. Still, when it’s my turn I accept the candy and put it in my pocket. 

After classes are over, I have to help clean the living room for my chore. I sweep the floor which is mostly clean anyway, except for a few snack crumbs. After I sweep, I get to leave. There are two other kids who are supposed to dust and vacuum the rug in front of the couch, but they always wait until I leave. The kids who like to watch TV and play video games wait until I leave too which is fine by me, because it means I don’t have to deal with them. 

After whatever chore, I’m on, I usually go to the library, but today I have a mission. I head to the kitchen where the back door is and open it. On the back steps a big man with broad shoulders and a head of brown hair sits. Even though he’s not facing me, I can tell he’s smoking a cigarette because it smells terrible. He starts to turn his head around. 

“Don’t worry Patty, I’ll put it out,” he starts and then stops. “You’re not Patty.” I don’t know who Patty is, but I agree with her. Smoking is bad. I cringe at the smell and he taps the end on the cement of the step. “Mrs. Huntington doesn’t like it when you kids leave the door open and you aren’t supposed to be back here.” I close the door behind me and walk down the handful of steps until I’m at the bottom and then I turn towards him. I’ve seen this man cleaning up the yard through the window. Whenever anything breaks, like the toilet after some little kids clog it, or the heater, he's the one who fixes it. The staff members call him James. He's the one who can give me what I want. I’ve seen him with it. 

“I need duct tape.” He stares at me like I’ve asked him a math problem he doesn’t know how to solve. 

“Why are you asking me?” he asks after a minute. 

“You have duct tape.” Shouldn’t it be obvious? He doesn’t speak for a few minutes, he just stares. Is it a difficult request? “What do you need it for?” None of your business, but adults don’t like it when kids say things like that, so I don’t say anything at all. 

“Please?” That works. After staring at me for another minute he gets up and goes up the steps. He pulls the back door open and holds it out even though he just told me not to. He gestures with his hand for me to go in first, so I do. He walks around me and I follow him out of the kitchen and towards the staircases. He passes them and there’s a little alcove I never noticed behind it. There are two doors, both are closed. A strong wave of fear and shame radiate loudly from this area. It’s hard to bear at first, but I take a breath and visualize myself in a bubble. It doesn’t shield me from all of it, but it helps. He opens one of the doors and then pauses. 

“Those kids again, huh?” I move in closer to see what he’s talking about and frown. Garfield is sitting on the floor of what appears to be some type of storage closet. His head has a cut on it that’s bleeding. Part of his face is near his eye is swollen and his lip is split. James grabs his arm and pulls him up. 

“We’ll get you cleaned up, just give me a minute,” James says. He goes digging in the closet. I look at Garfield and he looks back, but he doesn’t say anything. He just stands there, with his shoulders slumped and snot running from his nose. The whites of his eyes are red like he was crying. His feelings are getting too loud and they’re messy and mostly incoherent, but there are things that I recognize. 

I reach into my pocket and grab the candy cane from Ms. Flores. I hold it out to him, but he doesn’t take it, he just stares, so I wave it a little bit and push it further towards him. He finally grabs it, but he still looks confused. James steps back from the closet and holds something out to me, the duct tape. I take it. 

“Thank-you,” I barley mumble the words, but I look him in the eyes so he’ll know I mean it. He doesn’t say anything for a minute, just like outside, but he snaps out of it a bit faster and looks down at Garfield. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up, kid.” I leave first and head upstairs to the library, putting my prize over my wrist like a bracelet. I stop in my room and hide it in my pillowcase before going to my sanctuary to read. 

At lights out, I wait for the other girls to fall asleep before reaching into my pillowcase. When I’m sure that no one is awake, I pull out the tape and tear off a piece. It’s louder than I expected, but no one seems to wake up I put the tape over my mouth and press on it really hard so that it sticks. If all goes well, even if I have a nightmare, I won’t be able to scream. I won’t try to wake myself up anymore, so I won’t get any more cuts. 


	6. Raven: Human

**December**

**\---**

**Raven**

The third day of winter break begins like all the days before it. The alarm rings at the same time for breakfast. Even though we don’t have class we’re still expected to get up, get dressed and go eat. The other kids go outside to play after breakfast or watch tv in the living room. I go to the library. At lunch I go down to eat and then I return to the library. No one bothers me there. Sometimes Richard comes in, but  he barley glances at me and I can tell when it’s him now, so I don’t have to look. If it’s not him and it’s one of the other kids, sometimes I sit in between the shelves where they can’t see me. That way they can forget I’m even there and they won’t get any ideas about bothering me.

Today after lunch I head to the stairs, but when I get there Martha and Jessica are sitting on the bottom steps. Ginny and a younger girl who doesn’t sleep in our  room are standing next to them. They’re all giggling at something, but stop when I approach. I wait for them to move. Martha and Jessica stand up, but they don’t stop blocking the stairs.

“We were wondering if you wanted to play with us?” Martha asks. She has a big smile on her face, which can’t mean anything good. I shake my head. That isn’t the answer they were hoping for.

“That’s too bad. We found a bunch of boxes of books in the basement and we thought you might want to check them out,” Martha says. I don’t think she’s telling the truth, but it’s hard to tell. The library has plenty of books, I don’t need more yet. They might be more interesting than the ones in the library though. I should say no, but instead I nod and then flinch, because their feelings are too strong. They’re happy, which can’t be a good thing, but they’re just little girls. What can they do to someone like me?

I follow Martha and Jessica to a door just off from the living room. I’d  barely noticed it before and assumed it was a closet, but they open it and even though it’s dark I can see the top landing of stairs.

“You first,” Martha says. She gives me what might be mistaken by others as a warm smile, but I know better. Still, I go anyway, because I’m not afraid of basements. I take a few steps in and run my hand along the wall, hoping to find a light switch, but there isn’t one. Before I can turn around to suggest we get a flashlight, they shove me from behind and close the door. I can hear them laughing on the other side. My knees sting when they hit the cold pavement. The shock of the fall takes a few seconds to get over. I feel around on the floor, finding the edge of the top step inches away from me. I have two options. I can bang on the door and hope they open it or a staff member comes by or, I can see if there’s another way out or at the very least, a light switch.

It’s not easy getting down the stairs in the dark, but I manage to stand up and find the rail, taking my time and going slowly. When I get to the bottom, I put my hand on the wall and lean on it for a minute. The darkness is enormous. Infinite. I press my hand a little harder into the wall, just to make sure it’s really there. It’s like my eyes are closed. This is probably what it’s like to be dead. 

“Hello little girl.” Something clatters somewhere in the room and I don’t know if it’s because I accidentally used my powers or not. Those words are  _ his _ words, but I’m not sleeping. Am I?

“I see you...” this voice comes from somewhere else. I close my eyes and press both hands and my forehead against the cold wall. Someone tugs on my hair. If I had been breathing, I would have screamed. My mouth opens, but there’s not enough air to push any sound out. Something else in the room clatters and this time I know it was me. I moved something without meaning to.

“Dude, what was that?” A boy's voice asks. My hair goes slack again, like the person who was pulling it let go. I turn around and move to push the person, because obviously it’s just another kid and not  _ him _ , but there’s only air where my hands were. The light goes on and I see two boys going up the stairs and for a minute, just a minute it looked like someone else was standing at the top, there was a flash of green, but there’s no one there. I see the light switch now and it is on top of the stairs, so I must have done it, because the two boys are only halfway up. They run, nearly tripping on the steps, but when they get to the door it’s still locked. They bang on it and it finally opens. I hear squeals of laughter in the hall, probably from the girls. 

It was just a joke. Another stupid attempt to scare me... My back slides down the cement wall and my butt hits the cold hard floor. I breathe again, but too quickly. My chest heaves in and out, shallow breaths that barley hold any air. For a minute I really thought it was  _ him. _

My fingers crawl up my sleeves and bury their nails deep into the band aids and my skin, squeezing as hard as they can and then slowly tracing lines to my wrists. Why did they do that? We aren’t friends, but I'm not mean to them. I don’t go out of my way to annoy them or get in their way. I just mind my own business, so why did they do that? If they knew who I really was they wouldn’t do things like that. They would never do things like that. If they knew what I could do to them, they wouldn’t dare even look at me. They’ll regret it. I’ll make them.

The scratches on my arms are worse. The bloody scabs flake off in the shower when I rub them with soap, but that just makes them bleed worse. Eventually I give up and let them do whatever they’ll do. It would be better if I could heal them, but someone might notice. Especially now that the other girls and those boys are telling everyone what they did. Some of the other kids giggled and whispered at dinner. They think they’re so clever, but they’re wrong.

I don’t even try to sleep in case they do it again. It’s easier to stay awake tonight. Instead of wishing I wasn’t here, I think about all the things I can do to make them sorry. It has to be something that will really hurt them, the way they keep trying to hurt me.

Two days later, December 22 rd is when they finally show me how to hurt them. Tomorrow there's a party where some prospective adopters will come and spend time with all the kids. There’s a microscopic chance, according to the Mrs. Huntington that anyone will actually get adopted after this event, but none of the other kids seem to hear her when she reminds them at dinner. There's been talk about the party for the last couple weeks, but since I can’t go, I barley paid any attention to it. The other girls spend all day picking out their clothes. I watch them choose their outfits and fold them up  nicely on top of the dressers. 

When they’re asleep I sneak downstairs to the classroom. I shouldn’t use my powers, but I do. The door is locked, so I use a portal to go through the wall and then use my powers to break the lock on the art cabinet. I get scissors and some paint before going back upstairs. I listen for a minute to make sure the other girls are still asleep. Their breaths are even and deep. No one stirs. With the scissors, I cut holes in all the outfits they chose. Then I risk a few more minutes cutting up some of the clothes in the drawers, even my own. I’m going to ruin absolutely everything so they have nothing to wear. When the cutting is done, I squeeze bright red paint into all the drawers, lifting some clothes to make sure it gets on everything inside. There’s still a little paint left, so I put it on their beds too, over their blankets. When I’m finished, I go back to bed and pretend to be asleep. 

When the other girls wake up, I wait in quiet delight as they discover all their hopes and dreams have been stolen, like the peace they stole from me.

First there is silence, heavy in the air with their shock and utter disbelief. I sit up and watch as panic sets in and they toss their chosen outfits to the floor and dig in the drawers, their hands wet with red like mine were.

“What the hell!” Jessica screams as she shuffles through the drawer.

“Why?” Ginny sobs before tossing a shirt to the floor. There is screaming and finger pointing until they remember me.

“You!” Martha screams. She stomps over and points her finger at me. “This was you!” Before she can do anything else the door opens. Miss  Vanderbelt comes in and the girls turn to her screaming and talking at once. I get out of bed and go to the dresser with my clothes, but I don’t touch anything. I just look at the clothes they’ve strewn on the floor. It was hard to see in the dark last night, but I did a good job.

“Girls!” Miss  Vanderbelt yells to silence them, but it doesn’t work. They’re hysterical. It takes several minutes to calm them down and Mrs.  Kinders coming in and eventually Mrs. Huntington. There’s a lot of screaming and sobbing. Miss  Vanderbelt eventually leaves and comes back with some clothes that might fit from the other girl’s rooms, the older girls and the smaller ones. She passes them around and it does little to ease their pain. She pauses when she finally gets to me with a pink shirt and jeans under her arms. Her eyes look for the truth, but I can’t tell if she finds it. I take the clothes and go to the bathroom and change. By now breakfast is over, so I go to the library.

The party starts a little after lunch and I can’t risk anyone showing up early and seeing me, so I stay upstairs. I sit between the shelves on the off chance anyone comes in. Richard comes in right after lunch. At the time the party is supposed to start he doesn’t go downstairs. The party is loud. Voices and music thump through the walls and floor. There are a lot of people here. Too many people. It’s hard to shield on a normal day, but today is even harder. The pity, sadness and hope of the visitors is too much. I want to bang my head against the shelves until I pass out, just to make it stop, but instead I remember my training. I take slow deep breaths and imagine a shield, concentrating on building the walls as strong as I can. The party only last a few hours and then all the guests are gone, taking their feelings with them.

After dinner the door opens and Miss  Vanderbelt comes in. I get up because I know why she’s here. Even if no one will formally  accuse me, Mrs. Huntington must have put it together.

“Have you both been up here the whole time?” she asks, starring at Richard. He just shrugs without even looking away from the computer screen. “How are people going to see you if you don’t go downstairs?”

“I don’t want people to see me,” he says. She sighs and doesn’t argue with him. She looks at me and I can see she’s still trying to work out if I’ve actually done it or not.

“Mrs. Huntington wants to see you,” she says. Richard does look away from the screen when she says that. I catch him turn in the corner of my eye. Maybe he’s relieved she’s not going to punish him. I follow her downstairs to Mrs. Huntington’s office. The door is open and I go in alone, but close the door behind me. She's waiting behind her desk. I expected to sense anger, but there’s mostly just fear.

“You did it, didn’t  you. ” It’s not a question, but I still nod. “I see now why they sent you here.” What does that mean? “Azar doesn’t teach vengeance, so where did you learn it from?” I don’t like what she’s implying. I’m not like  _ him. _ This is different. They hurt me and they would have kept hurting me. Now they’ll know better. Now they’ll know the price.

“Are you even sorry?” What’s there to be sorry for. Her fear grows and I don’t understand why. What is she afraid of? “I can’t teach you to be human.” The words sting harder than any of the scratches on my arms. I am human... or at least half human. How is what I did any worse than what they did?

“You were told that the other kids may do things that you don’t understand or like and that you needed to ignore it.” she says. “Weren’t you?” I nod because she’s right, I had been told... But I hadn’t known what to expect and no one had prepared me for these children. For the whispers and stares... the rumors and the malice. What had I ever done to them? Why did they have to bother me?

“You’ve been spoiled your entire life. Azar took you in and took care of you. You’ve never wanted for anything.” Her words are dripping in venom and there’s almost as much anger as fear now. She’s wrong though. There are many things I’ve wanted and gone without. “Those girls are different. They have known what it’s like to go hungry and so much worse, so many other things. If they’re mean to you, it’s nothing compared to what they’ve been through.” She keeps talking, but I barley hear her because I don’t want to hear her excuses for their behavior. If they want to start fires, they should be prepared to get burned.

“Your mother will be disappointed to find out about this.” That makes me look up. She has my attention now and she knows it. “Do you think Azar isn’t watching you?” No... “I will let this slide, but remember the rules. I won’t be so lenient if you do it again.” The words are a dismissal. I leave and I go back to the library. Richard is still here and I don’t want to be around anyone right now, so I go into the stacks. She’s right.  _ She _ won’t like what I did.  _ She’ll _ say it’s because I’m like him.

Sleep is a death wish. If I leave the room to go to the library the other girls will snitch to get me in trouble, so I stay, but I don’t even pretend to sleep. I sit up, vigilant against all attacks. That staff on shift tonight have been warned and they keep the door open and walk by every thirty minutes at first, until it gets really late. By then the other girls, as angry as they might be, are asleep.

In the morning there is still nothing to wear, so they bring us borrowed clothes again. Then there’s breakfast. I finish eating quickly and start heading towards the library, but Ms.  Kinders stops me.

“You should go outside today,” she says. Punishment. “A little sun might do you some good.” It would be more dramatic to argue with her, so I don’t. I grab a coat from the rack in the hall and go out to the front yard. The ground is cold and the snow seeps into my shoes, making my socks wet. My sneakers aren’t the right shoes for this weather. If I don’t want to look out of place, I need to blend with the other children. My eyes graze the playground. There’s an empty swing, so I walk over to the swing set. The other kids on the swing's runaway, leaving the set empty. I sit down anyway and mimic what the other kids had done, folding my legs forward and backwards. Just as the swing finally starts to get some height, I’m shoved from behind. For a moment I’m suspended in the air and then my face hits the snow. The pain is shocking at first, but after a minute I’m able to push myself up. By then my roommates have surrounded me.

“Did you think you would just get away with it!” Jessica screams.

“We know it was you!” Martha yells.

“Now no one will want me.” Ginny wipes tears from her eyes.

“You’re going to pay for what you did!” Jessica says. She kicks me in the face. It happens so fast it takes a minute to register as my head hits the snow again. Another kick hits me in the stomach.

“Crap, Mrs. Huntington is coming this way,” one of them says. That doesn’t stop them from kicking me again before they run away. It hurts too much to move. Blood gushes out of my nose and makes the snow red. If Mrs. Huntington saw what they did, she doesn’t do anything about it, because no one comes over. If any staff member saw it, they don’t do anything. When the pain stops, I pull myself up and go inside the library. I sit between the shelves and I stay there. Revenge is the first thought that comes to mind, but after what Mrs. Huntington said, I know I can’t do anything. I don’t understand why they’re allowed to do what they do and I can’t, why it’s different, but I do understand that  _ she _ won’t like it. If there’s even the smallest chance that  _ she _ could change her mind and take me back home... They’re just stupid little girls. They’re not worth it.

Richard comes in after dinner. I wish I had picked one of the rows closer to the door because he can see me here. Thankfully he does what he normally does and he ignores me. I pull my knees to my chest and burry my head again. I’m tired and my face hurts. When the bell rings for bed, I don’t want to go, but I have to. In the bathroom I wash the dried caked blood off my face from my nose. My cheek is bruised and my nose is red, but otherwise still intact. There will be other bruises by tomorrow.

Christmas is like the other days at first. We get up, get dressed, again in borrowed clothes and then go down to breakfast. The other kids eat like they haven’t eaten in weeks though, shoveling the food into their mouths and dumping their plates until I’m the only one left. I don’t finish and dump my plate, following the sound of chaos to see what the fuss is about. In the living room there are brightly wrapped packages and bags under the Christmas tree. Mrs. Huntington and the other staff members pass them out to the kids. They open them and find new toys, clothes and other things that excite them. Mrs. Huntington catches me watching from the doorway and walks over.

“You don’t exist, so you don’t get anything.” I think she says it to hurt me, because she’s still mad about the clothes, but it doesn’t. What I want can’t be wrapped in a pretty package.

The living room is too loud with their feelings. Even good feelings are overwhelming, so I go to the library instead. At first, I try to read, but the feelings are distracting so I end up going into the stacks and trying to shield. Today is just like any other day in hell.


	7. Richard: Puzzles

**New Years Eve**

**\---**

**Richard**

Richard covers his ears, but he can still hear the big booms outside. He can't see the fireworks exploding, but he remembers the ones that used to go off after every show he’d done with his parents. He should be with them right now. Doing another show in another big city. Instead, he’s alone, sitting in the back of the library. The worst part is, that while they rot in their graves, the person responsible for their deaths is still out there. 

The lights turn off and he uncovers his ears, but with the cotton stuffed in them, he still can’t tell who’s there. He gets up and walks to the end of the book shelves and stops because it’s not one of the stupid boys from his room, come to tease him, it’s just Raven. She goes to the big window on the far wall and stares out into the night. If she’s that keen to watch the fireworks he wishes she would just go outside with everyone else, but he doesn’t tell her that. That last thing he wants to do is start any trouble. He can’t lose this place. 

Before she came, this had been his place, his sanctuary. None of the other kids wanted to be here. It was the only place in the house where he could be alone. Even the toilets were crowded. Then she’d come along and ruined his last hope of solitude. At first, he was angry, but when she didn’t bother him or ruin only traces of silence in the noisy house, the anger faded. She’s always quiet. Even now, watching the fireworks she’s quiet. He wouldn’t have even known she’d come in if she hadn’t turned off the lights. He sits at the end of the stacks and covers his ears again. At least when she leaves, he’ll know it’s over. 

It’s sudden and shocking, he almost gasps out loud, but he manages not to. All of his sadness and rage fades into feelings he hasn’t felt in months. Feelings he never thought he’d feel again. Wonder, joy and happiness. It’s so strange and sudden. He uncovers his ears and even though he can faintly hear the booms and bangs of the fireworks outside. The ones that gave him a panic meltdown during the summer, he feels good... better than good, fantastic. 

The fireworks show ends and the booms stop after a crescendo. He takes the cotton out of his ears and Raven walks away from the window and exits the library. When she’s gone the feelings slowly fade and he wishes they wouldn’t. Even though the sadness and anger come back, he doesn’t feel quite as bad as before. Probably because he’s still puzzled by what happened. Had she done that? She looked weird, like no girl he’d ever seen and he’d seen some weird looking girls. It was possible she was a metahuman and had powers. If she had done it, did she know? But she hadn’t seen him in the shelves, he was sure. So, if it was her it wasn’t on purpose.... 

Richard got up from the floor and went to the computer. He had about an hour before the staff would round up all the kids and make them go to bed now that midnight had passed. They’d probably already started rounding up the younger kids who’d dared to stay up. He could spend it sitting in the stacks wishing reality wasn’t what it was, or he could see if what he’d just experienced had ever happened to anyone else and try to figure out what it was. A puzzle to start the new year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with me this far. This chapter wasn't in my original story, but I wanted something a little lighter and to bring in more Richard and Garfield since they've had some cameos, but no major screen time yet. Thanks for reading!


	8. Raven: Surprise

**January**

**\---**

**Raven**

Winter break is over far too soon, but at least class makes the time go by faster. Other holidays pass, ones we don’t have at home. Some give us days off from class, others just rile the other children up and make them act both nice to some kids and nasty to others. The girls in my room are careful about when they pick on me now, but they still do. I try to remember what Mrs. Huntington said, even though I don’t like it. If she sees me acting like him, then she’ll never take me back. I have to be good. I have to remember what Azar taught me.

After class my homework doesn’t take long, so I try to spend at least a little time meditating and using the other ways that I know to calm myself. It’s a constant chore, the calming of myself, because no one here is calm and their feelings are like ocean waves, constantly threatening to swallow me whole and drown me. When classes end for the summer it’s easier. Some of the other kids leave to go to special camps for children without parents. Without class I can spend all my time in the library again, away from everyone.

Today starts the same as any day. We get up, get dressed and go to breakfast. I always wait for the other girls to leave before getting out of bed and taking the duct tape off. I risk using my powers and phase it inside my mattress, because if I put it in my pillow case or anywhere the other girls can reach, they will take it. They’re always stealing each other's things and mine are not excluded. I didn’t know what theft was before I came here. People do not steal in Azerath, but these girls will steal anything. There are fights about hair clips and chewing gum. Once one of them even took a book I brought down from the library. Not because she wanted to read it, but just because she knew it would make me angry.

After I’m dressed, I walk as fast as I can without running and go downstairs and get in line for food. Today is milk, toast with jam and a fruit cup. The table wobbles a little when the tray slams onto it, but nothing spills. I take my seat and open the fruit cup, then shovel giant spoonfuls of it into my mouth until it’s gone. Then I take a bite of toast, chewing while my hands fiddle w/ the cardboard opening of the milk. The faster I eat, the faster I can go upstairs away from what is already a lot of noise. As I swallow the toast, I take a big gulp of milk, which is a mistake because it’s sour and chunky. I spit it out and it sprays all over what’s left of my breakfast. The smell is like garbage and worse than any stink I’ve ever smelled in the bathroom. Spit pulls inside my mouth and I spit in my tray to get rid of the bad taste, but it lingers and so does the smell.

“Raven!” I hear one of the staff members coming over and the tone of their voice means they’re going to yell at me, but I can’t listen to that right now. I have to get away from the smell or I’ll be sick. I get up and run to the door, shoving it open with both hands, because I can feel my stomach heaving.

OW! I slam into something and my knees bang on the hard wood floor. Before I can stop myself vomit spews out of my mouth. When my stomach stops heaving, I open my eyes and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. Garfield is on the ground in front of me and my vomit is all over him. The sight and smell of it make my stomach heave again. Before he can say anything, I get up and run to the bathroom, where I throw up again. The door to the bathroom opens, but I don’t come out of the stall.

“Are you alright?” Ms. Vanderbelt asks. I spit in the toilet again, to get rid of the nasty taste in my mouth and open the stall door. She follows me to the sinks and waits while I rinse my mouth out and assess the damage to my clothes. Most of it got on Garfield, there are only a few splotches on my shirt. “Do you want to go get some toast?” I shake my head, but she’s not surprised.

“Some of the milk got left out a bit too long after being delivered yesterday afternoon. It was supposed to get tossed, but it looks like some of it might have gotten mixed in.” she’s annoyed, but I don’t think it’s at me, though it’s hard to be sure. “Go change. The mess is already being cleaned up.” She leaves and I rinse my mouth out one more time before going to the stairs to change. My pants are fine, so I just replace the shirt and head towards the library, but pause because Garfield is on the stairs. He looks at me, but before I can apologize, because I would actually apologize, he runs down them like he’s being chased by something. I’m not going to chase him to apologize, so I just go to the library.

Richard is already there. He must have seen the commotion this morning, but he doesn’t even turn around when I come in. No snicker, no smirk, just silence. Perfect. That’s why we get along. He stays in his corner of the computers and I sit at the middle table, where my book from yesterday is waiting and start to read.

After about five minutes the door opens. I catch Richard’s eyes for a half second because he turns around too. Garfield comes in. He should be angry, because I threw up on him, but he’s not. He’s nervous. He avoids my eyes, but walks over to my table and puts something down.

“It helps.” He mumbles and walks back to the door, still avoiding actually looking at my face. He closes the door a little too hard and it slams, making a loud bang. It opens again.

“Sorry!” he says, also a little too loud, before gently closing it. I look at what he put on the table. It’s a packet of saltine crackers in plastic wrap. The staff give these out to kids when they say their stomachs hurt. I pick it up and examine it for signs that he messed with it, but it seems fine. If he was angry, I couldn’t feel it, but I’m not always good at understanding people's emotions. Why would he give these to me?

Richard is watching me, but he stops when I catch him and he goes back to doing whatever it is he does on the computers. I cast my senses and try to read him, but I can’t understand. Richard is always calm and his other feelings are so.... hard to understand. Most of the kids are easy. They’re sad and angry, sometimes happy, but Richard is weird. Garfield is weird too... I didn’t even get to apologize and he wasn’t mad... I would be mad.


	9. Garfield: Tiger

**July**

**\---**

**Garfield**

Garfield tugs at the hem of his shirt and stares up into the tree. Two golden eyes stare back down at him.

“Meow!” the grey tabby cat says to him. It’s been at least a whole ten minutes and he hasn’t been able to coax the cat down, but it’ll be dark soon and the fireworks will be starting. The cat could panic and get hurt.

He looks over each of his shoulders. No one is coming, they’re all still at the barbeque. Mrs. Huntington will kill him if she finds out, but this is an emergency. Sort of... He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, concentrating on the new shape he wants his body to take. When he opens them again, he’s a lot closer to the ground. He flaps his wings and flies up to the tree. He gets to the branch the cat is sitting on and lands, but before he can transform into a monkey or something more useful, the cat swats at him. A bird was not the brightest choice. Garfield hops off the tree and the cat hops off after him, thankfully landing on its feet. Garfield flies close to the ground before shifting into a dog, giving a good warning bark at the cat before changing back into himself. The cat scampers off without so much as a thank-you. The green boy quickly gathers his clothes and hurries to put his pants on.

“I saw what you did.” A voice says from behind, as he closes the top button of his jeans. Garfield’s hands freeze and he turns around. Richard Grayson is standing next to the building with his arms crossed over his chest and his face holding a sour expression. Crap. He’s going to be in so much trouble. Mrs. Huntington told him on his first day that if he used his powers and got caught, she’d have him shipped off somewhere within two hours... This is already his third placement and he does not want to have to go to a fourth.

“Please,” he starts.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Richard says taking a few steps forward. Garfield tilts his head to the side for a minute, not quite believing what his ears had just heard.

“What?”

“I won’t tell,” Richard repeats. He walks closer until he’s only two steps away from Garfield. “If, you do me a favor.” Of course, there's a price. There’s always a price. Garfield looks at his shoes, not sure what he’s going to do. If he gives Richard one favor, what’s to stop him from asking for another one? Or using it against him later anytime he wants something? Still, he remembers the first two placements at the smaller group homes. The first one where all the other boys had nicknamed him lima bean. He shudders as he recalls all the times they locked him the small bedroom closet, sometimes for entire days.

“What do you want?” Garfield asks, knowing he doesn’t have a choice.

“Meet me under the stairs a two AM,” Richard says.

“What?” Garfield can’t do that. Lights out is way before then and if he gets caught...

“Do it, or I’ll tell everyone what I saw. You know they’ll believe me.” Richard says without hesitation and Garfield does know they’ll believe him. That was one of the first questions the other kids had asked him, after asking why he was green. They didn’t believe him when he said he didn’t have powers. He’d tried lying and saying he had super strength, but that hadn’t gone over very well.

“How many times will you let someone punch you before you cave and show everyone?” His face is so cold and emotionless is gives Garfield shivers. He talks like someone who knows what it will cost Garfield if anyone finds out. Like all the adults who had told him about other kids like him who’d ended up in bad places. The stories he didn’t need to hear, because he’d lived his own nightmare. The first two group homes had been bad and this one isn’t much better, but before then... before then was worse.

Richard doesn’t wait for an answer. He just walks away back towards the building and leaves Garfield to wallow in his misery. He doesn’t know Richard well enough to know if he’ll tell or not, but he hasn’t met one kid there who had a conscience or a soul. Everyone is in it for themselves. Richard is probably no different. He finishes putting on his clothes and then spends the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to get it out of.

At two A.M. Garfield is under the stairs, but Richard isn’t. He tugs on the lobes of his ears and berates himself for being so dumb. This is obviously just a ploy to get him into even more trouble. Maybe he has something against green people or just people with powers. There were lots of people like that. People that only like normal. Soon Mrs. Greer who’s on duty tonight, will come down the stairs and tell him he’s toast, he just knows it.

“This way,” Garfield would have screamed, but a hand covers his mouth. They press so hard his lips get smooshed on teeth and it hurts. “And be quiet.” Richard is suddenly right in front of him. He moves his hand and Garfield lets out the breath that would have been a scream.

“Dude!” he starts, but is immediately shushed.

“I said be quiet.” Richard grabs his arm and starts walking slowly to the front hall. He stops every few steps and pauses to listen before continuing. Eventually they end up in front of Mrs. Huntington’s office. By now Garfield is sure he’s made a mistake.

“What are we doing here?” He doesn’t really want to know, but he has to ask.

“You’re going to turn into a cockroach and squeeze under the door. Then unlock it for me.” Richard instructs him. Garfield pauses for a second to think of an argument. “Now.”

“We can’t sneak in here, we’ll get caught and,”

“I said, now.” Richard says. “Unless you want everyone to know what you can do. Maybe they can use you as a petting zoo for the small kids.” The words shred him to pieces. He wants to turn into the biggest carnivore he can think of and just swallow Richard whole, but instead he turns into a cockroach and squeezes under the door. He transforms into a human just long enough to open it and then into a tiger, maybe just to show Richard what he’s dealing with. He growls, but Richard isn’t scared. He just shushes him again.

“Cool, but it’s not going to help right now.” Richard says. “There’s a hole behind the filing cabinet. Turn into a gorilla and move it and then turn into something small and go inside.” Garfield already hates being here, but he hates it even more with Richard bossing him around. No one tells him what to transform into. Instead of a gorilla he turns into a grizzly bear and moves the cabinet away from the wall.

“Be quiet!” Richard says when he sets it down too loud. He makes an annoyed grunt, because at this point, he almost hopes they do get caught, and then turns into a mouse. Sure enough, there is a hole the size of a golf ball at the back of the cabinet. He wonders how it got there, because there’s no way a mouse did it. How does Richard know it’s there? When did he see the back of the cabinet? Inside are stacks of paper. He turns into a bug and slowly works his way to the front. It’s like hiking through the mountains a little bit. He hears Richard urging him to hurry at one point and is tempted to go slower, but it’s a miracle they weren’t caught yet, so he doesn’t.

“There’s a metal bar on the side, press on it.” He feels around, because it’s too dark and cramped to really look at anything closely. He finds it and presses, hoping Richard isn’t expecting him to tell him when it’s done. He hears him doing something outside the cabinet and then suddenly the door is sliding open. Once it opens Garfield turns into a bee and flies out. He hovers for a minute before turning into a bear again while Richard digs around. He finds a folder and Garfield steps a little closer, reading the cover. It’s his own file. Why would Richard break into the file room for his own file? He digs around, shuffling through papers and then pauses. His hands reach inside the manilla folder and he pulls out a small plastic bag. He pauses, but only for a minute before shoving the folder back into the cabinet and then closing the drawer.

“Put it back.” He tells Garfield. Garfield does what he says, still curious, but also eager to get this over with. He moves the cabinet. When he turns around his clothes are on the floor and Richard is shutting the door. He transforms back into his human form and puts his PJs back on.

He expects Richard to be long gone when he opens the door again, but he’s not. He’s waiting in the hall, quiet and alert.

“Thanks,” Richard says. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“...So, you’re not going to tell me what we just stole?” Garfield whispers.

“I didn’t steal anything, I took back something that was already mine,” Richard says. He lifts up the bag and Garfield can barely make out the small figure of a bird in shiny metal. “This was my mother’s necklace. They took it at my last home when some jerk broke the chain. They said it’s too valuable for a kid to have and that they’d keep it safe for me.”

“...” Garfield isn’t sure what to say. He doesn’t have anything from his parents, but he wishes he did. “You could have just asked for my help.” Richard looks at him for a minute and then nods.

“Sorry,” he says.

“Just promise you won’t tell anyone,” Garfield says.

“I promise,” Richard says. “Let’s get upstairs before we get in trouble.”


	10. Raven: Nice

**July**

**\---**

**Raven**

The sun is so hot here! Was it ever this hot at home? My skin is searing and it’s only been a few minutes. Across the playground Mrs. Huntington crosses her arms over her chest and gives me a hard look. I step away from the shade of the building and start walking around the big play yard. This is a stupid idea, but that shouldn’t surprise me since it was hers. Exercise will not make it easier to calm myself, especially not when it’s outside, which is against the rules. They said to stay inside as much as possible. Exercise can be done inside if it’s absolutely necessary, which it’s not. Especially on days when the sun is like hellfire.

Yesterday one lap around the play yard was good enough to appease her, so today I'll hope is the same. The other kids are hot too, I can see sweat dripping from their foreheads and the fair skinned children turn bright red, but they still laugh and play like it’s nothing. They’d rather be out here and I don’t understand it. Ms. Kinders and another lady who’s name I haven’t learned yet are in the field where the kids usually play kickball or baseball. They’re filling up a couple shallow plastic pools with a hose. Two of the older boys are unrolling a long yellow piece of plastic a few feet away from them. I watched them use it yesterday. They get it wet and run and slide down it, which looks fun for the first two seconds, but there were at least two skinned knees when I was watching and I hadn’t even been out that long. Even after their legs got cut up on rocks, the kids still got back in line to do it again. Even today some of the same kids are starting to run over to play again, their knees still scabby from yesterday.

There’s a burst of emotion on the playground. It’s so strong it brings me to my knees for a minute. Someone is hurting. They’re so embarrassed it hurts. I open my eyes; the laughter and shrieks are easy to follow. It’s Garfield. He’s on the far end of the play yard hunched on the ground with his knees to his chest, naked. As other kids notice his discomfort increases. It’s like getting punched in the head, I almost need to throw up, his feelings are too strong. In two, three, four, out, two, three, four. There’s a white light around me. Nothing can penetrate it. Nothing....

He’s still hunched over and more kids are showing up. I should go inside, but I remember the crackers. He was nice to me when he shouldn’t have been. I still don’t understand why, but he’s the first and only kid to be nice to me... Before I can change my mind, I sprint over to where he is. There are about twenty kids giggling now. I look for Mrs. Huntington or one of the other adults, but Mrs. Huntington is talking to James by the door and Ms. Kinders is helping someone inside with blood running down their leg. Who knows where the other one is; we’re on our own.

I push through the other kids and stand in front of him, turning my back to him. I take off my shirt off and toss it gently behind me to land on him. I’m wearing an undershirt, so he can have my shirt to cover himself with. I look over my shoulder and he glances up. I nod my head towards the shirt and turn around and hold my arms out to help block the view. Someone else steps up, Richard. He goes to Garfield’s other side.

“He’s taking his pants off!” A boy yells. I hear Garfield shuffling behind me and then he takes off running. Richard follows after him and I can see he’s only wearing his underpants and shirt, Garfield has his pants on and my shirt. I hurry to follow them, but they’re too fast. I can’t keep up with them. By the time I make it inside I can hear them stomping up the stairs.

Richard in the library when I come up after dinner. Neither he or Garfield showed up and I don’t blame them. The other kids would have probably eaten them alive and they don’t have their own table like I do. He doesn’t turn around when I come in, he just keeps doing whatever he does on the computer. I’ve seen him with Garfield a few times, but I’m still surprised he helped. They didn’t talk much when we had class. Richard usually minds his own business and stays away from everyone. Did Garfield do something nice for him too? He doesn’t seem any nicer than anyone else here, so would he do it just to be nice? Either way, I guess it’s done. I don’t owe Garfield anymore favors. Next time he’s on his own.


	11. Garfield: Powers

**July**

**\---**

**Garfield**

His fingers trace the bumpy texture of the wall. He digs his nail into one ridge and starts scratching out his name. It wasn’t his fault. She knows that, but she’s still punishing him. For his own good, she said, but what could be good about being stuck in the basement for a whole week? There’s nothing to do. No games, no TV, no slip and slide and no one to talk to. It’s only been three days and he’s already going crazy. What does she think is going to happen down here anyway? It’s not like he can control it. She can keep him down here for a million weeks and it won’t change anything. Nothing here changes...

He thought maybe Richard and Raven had helped him because they might want to be friends. That would have been a big change. A nice change, but whatever their reasons were, that probably wasn’t it. Richard ignored him when he asked after the incident. He changed his clothes faster than the Flash and left, saying they could talk later, but later never came. He doubts it will be today. When he snuck into the library yesterday Raven didn’t even glance up from her book and he wasn’t brave enough to say something first.

Why did they bother helping him if they were just going to ignore him anyway? Sure, he’s grateful, but still... He almost feels lonelier than before. At least before he didn’t know that people could actually be nice here. Now he knows two people who could actually be really nice, but they refuse to acknowledge him. So what if they helped him for those two seconds that he was naked, if they’re not gonna sit next to him in the dining room while the other kids snicker. What good did it even do?  
His face heats up at the memory of all those kids standing around laughing at him. His hand hits the wall and he regrets it immediately, because it hurts his knuckles. Before he even realizes what’s happening his body shifts and he turns into a mouse. Damn it. He hears himself squeak instead of speak. Another moment later he’s a snake and then back to himself. He quickly puts his clothes on. It happened again....

He sits on the floor and leans his head back on the wall. What if he can never control it again? What if it happens when he’s in class? Will she even let him start class? She can’t keep him in the basement forever... can she?  
The door clicks open and squeaks at the hinges. Mrs. Huntington stands at the top of the stares and looks down at him. She pauses for a moment and even from the distance he can see her eyes narrowing. She closes the door behind her and walks down the stairs.

“Are you just sitting here moping or are you actually working on figuring it out?” she asks. He looks away. “Do I need to remind you what will happen if anyone finds out what you can do?”

“No,” he answers quickly.

“No, what?” She crosses her arms over her chest.

“Sorry. No, ma’am,” he says.

“This is a serious matter Mr. Logan. I don’t want to find you a new placement. I know the trouble you had at your last one. Let’s put our best feet forward.” Mrs. Huntington says. Garfield nods even though he’s not sure what that even means. How is he supposed to control his powers when he doesn’t understand why they’re going haywire in the first place? They didn’t come with a manual and he doesn’t have anyone to teach him.

“I suggest you pick yourself up from your pity party and think about what you can do to change your situation going forward.” With those final words of wisdom, she turns around and heads back up the stairs. “Don’t come up for lunch today. Dinner only. We can’t have you making a spectacle of yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry this is another short chapter. The next ones should be significantly longer. Thank-you so much for reading this story. I hope you're enjoying it. 
> 
> Question: Are you guys okay with the chapter formatting? It's so different from how I have it formatted in word (paragraphs are not double spaced in word, I indent each line of dialogue). Let me know if you would prefer I update the format, but please be specific. Someone requested I put the Character POV names at the top, so I will do that going forward and also in the chapter titles. I apologize for not doing it before, it honestly just completely slipped my mind.


	12. Raven: Scary Movies

**October**

**Raven**

Time here moves so much faster than at home. It’s hard to believe it’s already been close to a year. That should make things easier, but it doesn’t. The other girls in my room still give me the evil eye. Class is still boring. _She_ still didn’t come to take me home. 

Today is another holiday. Halloween. Last year they had party with a lot of visitors, cake and candy, but this year's plans for another party fell through. Instead, the staff have ordered pizza and rented a scary movie. For dinner, we all get two slices of pizza, a cupcake, a small bag filled with candy and a can of soda. We pile into the living room as best we can. Because we all have to fit, everyone squeezes in closer than I would like. Miss Vanderbelt turns the lights out and the movie plays on a big sheet on the wall. 

The other kids get scared even before the movie actually starts. It’s so nauseating I can’t even eat my pizza. I don’t want to be here, but the alternative is arts and crafts with the younger kids in another room. There are only two staff members for all of us tonight, so this is the easiest way for them to monitor us all. The kids my age and older are awful to be around, especially on holidays, but the younger kids are worse. They scream, they cry, whether it’s out of joy, anger or sorrow, they are loud both in sound and with their emotions. I’ll take my chances here and if it gets really bad, try to sneak away.   
The first scene of the movie makes me reconsider not joining the smaller kids. A woman is slashed in half. Her blood and guts sprays everywhere. This is nothing compared to some of my nightmares, but combined with the discomfort and fear from the other kids, it’s almost overbearing. Not even ten minutes later another woman is taking a shower when the monster appears and slashes her into lots of pieces. The other characters try to figure out what’s going on and how to stop the monster, but slowly one by one they get murdered. One of them hides in a closet and the soundtrack goes silent except for footsteps. They get louder and louder, closer and closer to the closet door. Just as the door begins to crack open someone in our living room screams.   
“Rat!” a girl yells and gets up. She runs, stepping on legs and hands on her way out, causing more screaming and then there’s more rat sightings. Suddenly the room is in chaos. Something explodes and that causes more screaming. The sheet explodes next, spraying teared bits of fabric on everyone. Crap... That was me... I get up with the other kids and run to the only place I’ll be safe, the library. I go into the shelves and pull my knees to my chest. 

Breathe.... just breathe.... There’s a white light around me, nothing can penetrate it, nothing. Their fear, their screams, everything bounces right off. Nothing can make it through. I am a fortress. 

I sit for a long time and when the house calms down I go to the bedroom. The other girls are getting ready for bed and complaining about how they shouldn’t have to. I ignore them and change into my pajamas before going to brush my teeth. By the time I’m done the light is already off. I get into bed and close my eyes. For all the complaining the other girls did they’re being pretty quiet now. Hopefully we can all just get some sleep. 

_“Hello little girl…” he says. No... It’s just a dream, It’s just a dream. But it feels, different. “That’s because it’s not just a dream.” My chest tightens and it feels like I can’t breathe. I look around but there’s nowhere to run. Every time I turn, he’s there. Smoke and mist surround us. His shadow rises from it, red eyes glowing and he stares down at me._

_“Fulfil your destiny or I’ll make you kill all of them.” His words are almost joyful. Like he enjoys the idea of forcing me to murder the other kids. “What’s wrong? Did I scare you?” he mocks._

_“No...” The word is barley a whisper and I don’t even know if I said it out loud._

_“You will.” he says. I shake my head because I don’t trust my mouth to work anyway. His big red hand reaches down and just as it’s about to grab me I feel myself scream._

“Wake up!” Someone shakes me. I blinked a few times. It’s Miss Vanderbelt. “You had a nightmare.” I’m out of breath and sweat drips from my forehead. I sit up and glance around the room. He isn’t here. The other little girls stare at me. “You were screaming.” 

“…” I forgot the duct tape, but I’m glad. If I hadn’t screamed, I would still be trapped there... with _him._

“Are you okay?” she asks. I nod, but it’s a lie. “Try and go back to sleep, it was just a dream. That movie was a bad idea.” She goes to the door and turns the lights out. I wish she wouldn’t. 

I skip breakfast because before I even make it to the dining hall, I can tell kids are looking at me again, the way they used to. In the way that makes me know I’m weird. They must have heard me scream. Even if they didn’t, I’m sure the girls in my room wouldn’t keep quiet about it. I go straight to the library, glad it’s the weekend and we don’t have class. Ugh... I haven’t been having nightmares that often anymore. Why now? Was it the movie? 

Richard shows up soon after and does whatever it is he always does, but I catch him looking at me a few times. That means I was right to skip breakfast. The other kids must be talking about it. Hopefully they don’t connect me with what happened to the sheet. If that happens, I’m toast. I don’t even know what Mrs. Huntington will do, or Azar. 

As if that thought alone summoned her, the library door opens and Mrs. Huntington comes in. I didn’t think she’d be here today. She’s been spending weekends with her own family. She stands in the doorway and stares at me. She doesn’t even look at Richard. I close my book and get up, because she must have heard what happened yesterday. 

When I get to the door she turns around and I follow her back to her office. She closes the door behind me and then goes to sit behind her desk, but I don’t sit down. 

“What were you thinking?” she slams her hand on the desk. “Using your powers, drawing attention to yourself, need I go on? Were those guardians of yours not clear that you are to keep a low profile?” 

“...” Nothing she said is wrong. I have done a bad job. 

“Do you want to help him that badly?” Anger and fear radiate off her, but even if I couldn’t sense her feelings, I would be able to see it. It’s in her eyes, the tension in her shoulders and the slight curve of her fingertips as they coil up to hold the side of her face in her palm. They curve ever so slightly like the claws of a cat, like she wants to gouge my eyes out. 

“...I forgot the tape,” I mumble. 

“What nonsense are you spouting now?” she asks. I shake my head. “I can’t stop rumors, so you need to stop starting them. From today on I want you to be invisible.” I nod my head so she will know that I heard her. “No more screaming at night and don’t use your powers again. If you can’t control them, then you can’t stay here.” What? I have to stay here. There’s nowhere else for me to go. 

“...” I want to ask her what that means, but the look in her eyes tells me I can’t. 

“What are we going to do about the nightmares?” Does she really think I have an answer? “Well?” I look at my feet because I’m not sure what to say. If I had a way to stop them, I would have by now. “Do you think they’ll stop?” I shrug. 

“Maybe.” They did stop for a while, but they also happened for a while and these ones are different. These ones are almost real, because he’s real in them. It’s not just me dreaming this time. He’s there, but if I tell her that... She’s already angry and afraid. If she finds out that he’s trying to make me help him get here, who knows what she’ll do. Azar was very clear she won’t let me go back and if this woman won’t let me stay here... 

“Do you think it was the movie?” she asks. No, but I nod because I don’t want to tell her the truth. The movie might have helped _him._ It was scary and upsetting, all of the other kids feeling swirling around and making it hard to keep my guard up. It could have helped him, but it’s not exactly the movie. It would have eventually happened anyway. 

“Get out. Think about what I said.” I turn around and open the door, but I don’t go back to the library. I go sit by the basement door because it’s dark and quiet, or at least as quiet as this house gets. If I go to the library Richard will still be there and I want to be alone. 

Tonight, I won’t forget the duct tape. If I don’t scream for a while they’ll forget. The rumors aren’t something that can be stopped right away, but they can be stopped. Something else will happen. Someone will wet the bed or another holiday will come. They’ll forget. Christmas is right around the corner. No one will care what I do around then. I just have to be good. If I can just get through then without drawing attention to myself things will be fine. 

I skip lunch too, but go to dinner because I know that part of not drawing attention to myself is blending in and being like everyone else. If I keep skipping meals they’ll notice and then that’ll be another strike against me, another thing that makes me different. Instead of just eating I watch the other kids and how they interact with each other. There’s a lot of talking and a bit of the usual taunting and teasing. One of the older boys is scooping all his peas onto Garfield’s plate and telling him something that makes his face turn sour. The girls in my room are split between a few other tables with some of the boys in our class. At one of those tables a boy chugs some milk and then shoots it out of his nose causing some of the kids to scream that he’s gross and others to laugh. They’re all together. I’m the only one who sits alone, but if I join them now, after a year that would be weird, so maybe this is my normal. 

After dinner I go to the library. Richard shows up later, but I ignore him, even when I catch him looking at me once. If he tries to say anything or start a conversation. I’ll leave and find somewhere else. He doesn’t though. He just does whatever he always does. When it’s time for bed I don’t want to go, but I have to. Tonight, I don’t forget the tape. 

_I turn over in bed. Someone turns the light on. No one’s by the light switch though and the door is open. Did I do it with my powers? But I don’t think I did... I didn’t mean to. I look at the other_ _girls'_ _bunks. Surely, they’re just as confused as I am, but they aren’t there. Where did they go? I move my hand to the tape over my mouth, but it’s not there... I would have woken up if someone had taken it off and I’m sure... I’m sure I put it on!_

_The blankets fall on the floor as I roll over the side of the bed and get up. The other girls are definitely gone. I go into the_ _hall;_ _the lights are all on and all the doors are open. I step into each doorway, but no one is there. Where is everyone?_

_“AAAAHHH!” The scream is coming from downstairs. My legs are faster than my brain. I run, almost falling down the stairs, but I catch myself on the rail and keep going. I stop so fast on the bottom step that I do fall. There’s blood, everywhere is blood. He’s here and he’s ripping them all to shreds. His giant hand wraps around Miss_ _Vanderbelt’s_ _waist. He turns to smile at me before ripping her into two pieces._

I’m choking for air. I rip the tape off and gasp, sucking in air as fast as I can. It’s the middle of the night. Holy freaking cow. That was awful. The other girls. I get up and look, but they’re all still in their beds. It was just a dream. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the slow update. Hope you are enjoying the story so far. Also, I went back to all the other chapters and added what month the chapter takes place in. If you've kept up so far then there's no need to go back, but I'm sure you've noticed I'm skipping around(only forward) a bit. I thought it might help. I know I jumped from like January to July in one chapter and I don’t think it was very nice of me to do so without warning.... I apologize. I’m learning as I go. See you next time!


	13. Richard: Snow

** December  **

**Richard**

Richard turns off the library computer and rubs his eyes with his hands. It’s almost time for bed and he’s tired, but he’d rather stay awake and keep searching. He’s onto something this time; he can feel it. If he could just keep up the momentum, he would find something. 

Unfortunately, the night staff are firm on lights out. Bed on time or cleaning toilets for a week, those are the new rules after Tommy, one of the older boys had tried to sneak out last month. Nothing gets compliance like disgusting chores.

When the electronic hum of the computer fades to silence, he gets up. Raven is still sitting at the table she always sits at. She has a book open, but she’s not reading it. She hasn’t really been reading anything the last few weeks. She opens plenty of books, but her eyes don’t move and sometimes she forgets pretend to turn the pages for twenty to thirty minutes at a time. He looks at her from the corner of his eye when he passes. She has dark circles under her eyes. He knows she has nightmares, because everyone knows. There were a few times when she woke the entire house screaming. He feels a little sorry for her because he has nightmares sometimes too. He had a lot of nightmares his first year. Everyone did. Most of them still do.

She should be getting up to go to bed too, but she doesn’t and he doesn’t remind her. They have an unspoken rule not to talk to each other and he’s not sure what will happen if he breaks it. Sometimes he wants to, because he has a lot of questions. He still doesn’t know what happened at New Year's last year and he’s sure she had something to do with the sheet bursting into pieces on Halloween. Garfield had told him about a similar incident that happened in the basement when the other kids had tried to scare her, after Richard gave him his clothes back. Still, despite his curiosity he didn’t want to break their unspoken rule and ask. Even if he  did she probably wouldn’t tell him the truth anyway. Even if she could explain it, what would the point be? It wouldn’t really change anything. It’s better to just keep things the way they are.

When he gets back to his room he changes into his pajamas and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Garfield is at one of the sinks flossing. He gives Richard a half-smile.

“Knock, knock,” Garfield says, or tries to say, anyway with his mouth half-full of floss. Richard only knows what he said because it’s Garfield and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is usually a horrible joke. It might have been a mistake to get so familiar with the green kid.

“No one’s home,” Richard puts toothpaste on his toothbrush and ignores the big hopeful eyes Garfield is giving him. It’s annoying enough to hear those stupid jokes when he’s not tired.

“Banana,” Garfield says anyway. “Banana, who? Banana-nana-Batman.” Richard spits into the sink.

“That doesn’t even make sense,” he says before putting his toothbrush back into his mouth to finish brushing.

“I’m still working on it,” Garfield shrugs. He keeps flossing and Richard keeps brushing. Richard spits in the sink one last time and when he looks up Garfield is gone and a pile of clothes is on the floor.

“Not again,” he groans. “Garfield...” A green hamster wiggles out of shirt on the floor. It chirps at Richard. “Change back!” It chirps and suddenly instead of a green hamster Garfield is a green bunny. “Forget this, I’m going to bed. Don’t get caught.” Richard turns around and starts to go to the door, but he stops when he hears a roar behind him. He turns and finds himself face to face with a tiger.

“Anyone still in here? It’s lights out!” A woman's voice calls from the hall. He recognizes it as Ms. Reeves. She’s one of the strictest staff members in the house. He  usually avoids her if he can. He looks over his shoulder and even in tiger form Richard can see Garfield  panicking . The door handle starts to turn, but Richard presses all his weight against the door.

“Who’s in there?” Ms. Reeves shouts from the  other side of the door. “Open this door!”

“Hide!” Richard says in the loudest whisper he can. Garfield goes into one of the toilet stalls and Richard watches his paws disappear. When he’s gone Richard moves from the door and kicks Garfield’s pajamas under the sink. Ms. Reeves opens the door and steps into the bathroom, her face is red and she looks angry.

“Just what do you think you’re doing!” She’s  definitely angry.

“It was just a joke,” It’s the only excuse he can think of.

“I hope you think shoveling the walkways tomorrow is just as funny.” She grabs the back of his shirt and hauls him off to the boy's room. “Tomorrow morning you’re to get an early start after breakfast  shoveling the walkways in the front  _ and _ back.”

“Yes ma’am.” Richard says because it’s pointless to argue. If he pisses her off more, she might make him do more chores. 

She lets go of his shirt when they get to the door. He goes in and gets into his bunk. It’s the closest one to the door. He climbs up the ladder and gets in bed.

“We’re still missing one,” she says. “Someone is going to be cleaning toilets tomorrow.” The other boys laugh and as if on que Garfield appears behind her.

“Sorry, I had too much broccoli at dinner. It didn’t agree with me,” He says, causing the other boys to burst into even more laughter. Ms. Reeves is not impressed.

“You know the rules. Those bowls better be spotless tomorrow,” she tells him.

“But,” Garfield doesn’t get another word out. She points to his bunk, the top bunk across from the door and he sighs, but complies. When all the boys are in their  beds, she turns out the lights.

In the morning Richard eats breakfast as slow as he can, not at all eager to go outside. Eventually all the toast is gone, his juice and banana to and he loses all his excuses to sit at the table. When he gets outside, he’s surprised. Garfield has started shoveling and made a pretty good dent in the front walkway.

“I got you a shovel,” he says, pointing to a big one propped up against the wall next to the door. “She’ll notice if you don’t at least pretend to shovel with me.” Richard takes the shovel and joins him.

“I’ll start over there.” He points to the front gate.

“Cool! We can meet in the middle!” Garfield yells. Richard ignores him, because even though he’s glad Garfield is helping, this is still all his fault. He should have never been nice to that kid after getting him to help with the necklace. He should have never even gotten him to help in the first place. Garfield was always goofing around and getting into trouble. If he had known that he had no control over his powers, he would have never made him help.

Richard starts shoveling in front of the gate, pitching the snow to the left and then the right, not particularly caring where it lands, as long as it’s out of the walkway. He only gets a few feet away from the main gate when a green dog runs up to him. He has clothes in his mouth, but he drops them when he gets to Richard.

“Seriously?” Richard groans. Garfield whimpers and starts turning around, back and forth looking from Richard towards the house. “What?” Suddenly Garfield is human again. Richard smacks his hand to his forehead

“I smell blood, I think someone is hurt.” Garfield says quickly before turning back into a dog. Richard rolls his eyes and starts to go back to shoveling, but Garfield barks at him.

“Fine.” He picks up the other boy’s clothes and watches Garfield track in the snow. He’s going to make  Garfield finish shoveling after this. They walk along the fence until they get to the side of the building. Behind the tree, against the building Richard can see a small figure of a person. As they get closer the violet hair is unmistakable. Garfield runs and Richard follows. Raven is curled in a ball against the building in only her nightgown. Her bare arms are covered in long scratch marks. Dry, frozen blood runs down them and sticks to her hands and cheeks. Her skin is almost blue and her eyes, while open are lifeless.

“Are you okay?” Richard asks even though it’s obvious she’s not. He bends down in front of her, but she doesn’t move. She might even be dead. He puts a hand on her bare shoulder. She’s so cold, he’s sure she has to be dead, but her eyes move, like they’re just now seeing him. Garfield whimpers next to him. Her eyes, previously lifeless, fill with unmistakable fear and begin to water.

“Go get help,” Richard orders him. He starts taking off his jacket and wraps it around the girls' shoulders as Garfield runs off. He pulls her away from the wall to get it behind her. “What are you doing out here?” he asks, not that he expects her to answer. “Are you stupid? It’s cold! There’s snow on the ground.” He looks at her bare feet, her toes are practically purple. He’d seen a movie once where a man had to have his arm cut off from being exposed to the cold. Would she have to get her feet cut off? It looks like someone or something attacked her, but even if that had been the case, she should have gone inside. Only an idiot would stay out here.

He needs to get her inside. Garfield is taking too long. He pulls her away from the wall again and turns around, squatting on the ground. He pulls her arms over his shoulders and grabs her legs, holding under the knee and putting her on his back like a piggyback ride. It’s hard to walk like that in the snow and she’s so cold. It’s like carrying a giant ice brick, but he walks towards the back because it’ll draw less attention. There are kids playing in the front yard, but no one is supposed to play in the back.

Garfield must have had the same idea because a green dog runs up to him from the back door and Mrs. Huntington opens it. Ugh.... Did he have to pick her? She’s far from his first choice.

“My word....” she covers her mouth at the sight of them. “Get in here, quick.” Richard moves as fast as he can with the girl on his back and Mrs. Huntington holds the door open for him. She leads him to her office and closes the door behind him. “Put her down in the chair.” Richard does what she says and as soon as Raven is in the chair Mrs. Huntington pushes him away and is in the girls’ face.

“Go get James and get out.” Mrs. Huntington says. “Finish shoveling the driveway.”

“Is she  gonna be okay?”  Richard asks.

“That’s isn’t your concern.” Mrs. Huntington snaps. “Get James and go finish your chores. I don’t think I need to tell you to keep this to yourselves.” Richard can take a hint. He looks at the frozen girl one last time. She doesn’t move. Maybe she died on the way inside.

He does what Mrs. Huntington asks and gets the groundskeeper, which is weird. Why does she need the groundskeeper? Shouldn’t she just call nine-one-one? He gets another jacket and shovels the driveway, sure that an ambulance will pull up, but it doesn’t. Garfield comes back in clothes. Richard expects him to start blabbering about what happened, but he doesn’t. He stays quiet.

The rest of the day is normal. Richard does what he always does. He reads the newspaper when the staff are done with it. He eats lunch with the other boys in his room, though he notices the empty table. After lunch he goes to the library since he knows it will be empty, or he’d thought it would be. Garfield is there.

“Do you want to talk about what happened this morning?” he asks.

“What’s there to talk about?” Richard shrugs. Garfield probably won’t know anything he doesn’t.

“...She was so scared. I could smell it.” Garfield says. “And what happened to her? Why was she all scratched  up...? I didn’t smell any other animals around or people...” That’s interesting. Richard had assumed that she’d maybe been attacked by an animal or perhaps even a man, though the latter seemed unlikely. James is the only male staff member regularly on the property and he avoids the kids like the plague.

“...” Richard ignores him and goes to the computer. The  electronic whirr of it booting up is a familiar and comforting feeling.

“I heard all the girls in that room have been having nightmares.” Garfield says. That wasn’t news. There had been gossip about that for months. Martha and Jessica swore to some of the boys in his room that every night one of the girls had a dream about the devil. He was always killing all the kids in the orphanage or destroying Gotham. Richard always assumed it was for attention. “Aren’t you even a little curious or worried?”

“No,” Richard says.

“I thought you were friends?” Garfield asks.  Richard turns around and shakes his head.

“Why would you think that?” he asks.

“You mean you both just sit in here and don’t talk or anything?” Garfield gives him a look like he’s weird and Richard turns back to the computer because he knows it’s weird, but it had worked for them very well for the past year and he expected it to  continue to work.

“I come here because it’s quiet,” Richard says. Maybe Garfield will take the hint and leave.

“...Well, I want to be friends.” Garfield says. Richard opens up an internet browser and starts working on his research. “You can ignore me, but I’m not going anywhere.” Richard does ignore him and Garfield lasts less than a minute before he starts talking again. “She’s nice.”

“...” Richard doesn’t reply.

“Last year she gave me her candy cane... and you’re nice too. You both helped me when... that situation happened in the summer.” He doesn’t have to turn around to know that Garfield just shuddered. “Why don’t we all just be friends?”

“I don’t need friends,” Richard says, hoping it will offend the green boy enough to make him leave.

“Everyone needs friends,” Garfield argues. “She needed a friend or she wouldn’t have been outside like that. You needed my help to get your thing back. If we were  friends, you could have just asked me for help instead of being a jerk.”

“...”

“When she gets better, I’m  gonna be her friend.” Garfield says. “You can be my friend too. If you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even I didn't expect to update again so quickly! But this chapter wanted to come out. It's not in the original version I wrote and it has changed things a bit, but I like it. Let me know if you do too!


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